Jackson Children Services — Local services in New York

Their Early Intervention (E.I.) service coordination here is completely inadequate and sub-standard.

My daughter who was born prematurely in 2017 needed Early Intervention services which was originally provided for by a different agency relatively close to our home. Our original service coordinator there was nothing short of excellent; she kept in constant contact with us by phone and email, she checked up on any changes in our daughter's condition, she advised us what we needed to know for meetings with the state and when they would be occurring, and she was extremely responsive if we requested any change in services. In short, she acted as an advocate for our child.

However, our original service coordinator left and we were transferred to Jackson.

Not only was Jackson farther away in a part of Queens that is much more difficult to get to and find parking, but just everything else about it felt so much more unprofessional, especially our service coordinator.

Unlike our original agnecy Jackson provided no material describing their services, our rights in E.I., the staff hierachy, privacy rights, and lots of other information. They also had no professional email addresses for us to contact them and send medical documents.

We wanted a nutritionist for our daughter, the Jackson coordinator did no advocacy whatsoever to help us. She put everything on us to get the referrals and speak to our speech therapist and when we finally were prepared, we could not get in contact with her. She only provided a cell phone number and a private gmail address to send medical documents. She never gave any alternative worker contact in case she could not get back to us. Even after contacting the director who assured us that our coordinator would call us, she never did; and the director also incorrectly told us that we had to find another agency to accept us to transfer when we asked about leaving Jackson.

I had to contact the Commissioner of Early Intervention to get any action from this agency and it was only with respect to transferring the case.

It appears that this is another private agency all too willing to accept state money without the proper staffing, experience, or technological infrastructure to accommodate the needs of parents.

Early Intervention IS exactly that, it is acting EARLY so that the therapy can alleviate to some degree the impact that debilitating conditions can have on infants. The more time that they fail at their job, the more damage a child in need suffers.

Children need advocates not inexperienced staff providing the bare minimum...

This school is really great!!! I am so happy I got my son in a school where they believe him and he's making so much progress!!! The last school they wouldn't take him to bathroom when he told them he had to go and he regressed and stopped using the toilet. Now that I got my son in the Jackson Hieghts Developmental Center my son is back to using the toilet and his vocabulary is expanding everyday!!! Thank you so much Jackson Hieghts...

I have only positive things to say about Jackson Developmental Center on 82nd Street. My daughter spent two years at this school, and her progress was incredible. The staff is highly knowledgeable in working with children with special needs and truly understands their unique needs. The principal goes above and beyond to support the students in her care, making it a nurturing and effective environment...